WASHINGTON (WUSA9) -- Jazz Bemah is an 11th grade dance student at the Duke Ellington school for the Arts in D.C.

She has a major role in the schools upcoming "Black Nativity" production for the holiday season. Jazz's mother and father are graduates of the same Ellington school. Petro is an artist. Shene, the wife is also a dancer.

The family of performing artists has been hit with some incredibly bad news of late. Petro Bemah lost his job which lead to the family being evicted from their rental home.

They are homeless.

The family which consists of three girls and a set of triplets has been taken in by a stranger Jamil Shoatz, a former Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner.

He says he couldn't turn them away. He's now trying to help the father land a job. WUSA9 came across Petroas he was picking up a free turkey complements of Councilman Marion Barry and Union Temple Baptist church.

More than 3,000 others showed up for the gift.

Rory Pullens principal at Duke Ellington says there have been several homeless students at Ellington-school faculty have taken students home and contributed financially where possible, he says.